Ukraine officials make arrests, proposals in corruption fight

A team of investigators and prosecutors – led by Deputy Prosecutor General Vitaliy Kasko and David Sakvarelidze and a Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) special unit – arrested a Kyiv regional prosecutor for alleged illegal narcotics trading, reported on July 20 the press service of the Anti-Corruption Center. “He was arrested at the place of the crime during the sale of the latest portion of narcotics,” said Kasko. “A search is currently taking place.” The suspect faces nine to 12 years in prison.

The State Ecological Inspection of Ukraine can’t be reformed and should be liquidated, Vice Prime Minister Valeriy Voshevskiy told a July 20 press briefing, as reported by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. “The corruption element is at the level of 100 percent,” he said of the body with its 2,500 employees. He proposed creating a new organization composed of youth and civic activists within the next two months.

Zenon Zawada: It’s such occasional reports – coming in dribs and drabs every few days – about the fight against corruption and government incompetence that offer hope to both Ukrainians, and all those invested in Ukraine, that the nation is on the right path to embracing Western institutions and values. A regional prosecutor being arrested for drug trading is perhaps a precedent. That is, if it’s a genuine arrest, since planting drugs on political enemies was a common tactic of the last few decades.  

The proposal to liquidate an entire inspection body is entirely appropriate and will be widely supported, as will be the proposal to hire young professionals (preferably with Western experience) and civic activists. More state bodies need this type of total house cleaning. New and renewed state bodies should employ fewer workers with far higher salaries. There is the risk that Voshevskiy is using the pretext of fighting corruption to create a state body that is loyal to him and his business interests, and civil society must work to prevent that from happening should any politician attempt that.